The English School of International Relations represents an infinite source for the ongoing research of the “international society” concept. The paper speculatively examines three international society institutions: war, balance of power and international law; in order to indicate contemporary “scientific” (mostly realist) limitations to the terminological understanding of the international society concept. The goal of the article is to highlight the existence of specific universal principles that represent a unique culture of international society, presently better known as the “global” society. In the first part, the article discusses the institution of war, and the contrast between contemporary realist and traditional perception of the institution. The second part discusses the balance of power institution, namely the traditional approach to its superior vertical and inferior horizontal principles. The third part examines the institution of international law, which draws its essence from the universal principles of natural law tradition. By applying a numerical analogy, the article indicates the importance of universal principles as essential for understanding of the contemporary meaning of the above mentioned institutions.keywords: English SchoolHedley Bullinternational societywarbalance of powerinternational lawnatural lawWestphalian system

The author suggests that the liberal paradigm of democratic peace is problematic in explaining the international reality. Democratization does not necessarily lead toward peace, but quite the contrary, induces wars, primarily in the sense of “just wars” with the aim of toppling down authoritarian regimes. Also, the paper shows that democracies do go to war with each other. Young democracies are especially inclined to do so. The author strongly emphasizes that democratization can lead to civil wars. The case of Iraq shows how, instead of peace, democratization lead to violence within the state, which produced new security issues for the whole region. American goals in Iraq were disarming Iraq, war against terror, the spreading of freedom and democracy, and introducing the free market. However, none of these goals were achieved. Iraq was already disarmed in 1991, while the American invasion made Al Qaida’s entrance to Iraq possible. The last three goals, which also represent the pillars of the democratic peace theory, were also not achieved. Instead, Iraq entered a civil war.keywords: liberal democracyImmanuel Kantdemocratic peace theorycivil warIraq

Chivalric orders and self-styled orders have been part of silent diplomacy for centuries and show remarkable resilience to change. Chivalric orders are based on historical legitimacy, while self-styled orders are a result of democratic change brought by the American and French Revolution. Their power in society is a research topic of many scientific and quasi-scientific discussions and studies, many of which use the term of secret societies. Using the methods of corporative diplomacy and personal lobbying, these elite organizations have success in implementing their utilitarian and symbolic power in politics, economy and culture, Examples of the Order of Malta and Freemasons (Hinković, Zanella, Kerenski and Briand) shows us how the elite spreads its influence through social networks. The power of these organizations lies in individuals, while its legitimacy rests on sovereignty and bourgeoisie. The permanent affiliation of individuals with the organization often determines their activities in other social and political spheres.keywords: corporative diplomacysymbolic powerutilitarian powerelite organizationsOrder of MaltaFreemasonslobbying

This paper discusses some characteristics of the involvement of French troops in the United Nations Mission in Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina from 1992 to 1995. It addresses the question of motives of French policy makers regarding their decision to voluntarily send troops to partake in the United Nations mission. The subject matter is analyzed from the perspective of the neorealist school of international relations. Particularly, this means that peacekeeping mission are seen as motivated by the participating country’s own interests. The paper explores the available historical sources, documents and newspapers, through which it seeks to shed light on the intricate relations of the great powers and international organizations.keywords: FranceUNPROFORwar in Croatiawar in Bosnia-Herzegovinaforeign policypeacekeeping

Competencies, learning outcomes and curriculum approaches are very important in the field of national education, and they are dominant in pedagogical theory and reality since the beginning of the EU accession process. Educational politics act and change the national educational system under the influence of the politics and the necessary social process of Europeanization. Thus, there is a need to establish basic competencies necessary for the society and individuals, and that they keep up with the necessities and demands of the modern global changes. Knowledge competencies education becomes a major task of the curriculum politics on each and every level of education. The aim of this paper is to establish which basic competency models at the tertiary education level in Croatia would fulfill the European development needs since the national competency standard which would lead to a knowledge based society has still not been established. Generic competencies include organizational, planning, leadership, managerial and information skills as well as the ability to manage projects and work in a team. In addition to the necessary competencies mentioned above, the models established in this paper also include life-long learning, networking, multilingualism, interculturalism and social responsibility.keywords: competencieslearning outcomescurriculumcurriculum approachknowledge-based society